#Urogyn: What’s Trending on Instagram? A Cross-sectional Observational Study

Abstract

Objective The aim of the study was to identify the prevalence, authorship, and type of information pertaining to topics in urogynecology on Instagram via hashtag and content analysis. Methods A list of 20 hashtags consisting of common urogynecologic diagnoses, procedures, and lay terms was derived from the American Urogynecologic Society’s “Patient Fact Sheets.” The top 9 and most recent 30 posts for each hashtag were reviewed for authorship and content type. Content type was divided into the following categories: educational; tagged but unrelated posts; pertinent patient experiences; community building and outreach; advertisements; and humor. Searches were limited to English language posts. Results Our search yielded 561,133 posts. The 5 most popular hashtags were pelvic floor (30.6%, n = 171,855), interstitial cystitis (12.8%, n = 71,977), pelvic pain (10.0%, n = 56,505), incontinence (9.3%, n = 52,169), and prolapse (3.9%, n = 21,839). The authorship of the top 9 and most recent 30 posts (n = 537) were as follows: patients (34.6%, n = 186), allied health professionals (29.2%, n = 157), physicians (13.4%, n = 72), and other (22.7%, n = 122). Further authorship and content analysis revealed that allied health professionals authored the most informational posts (45.6%, n = 129) and patients authored the most unrelated (69.4%, n = 43), patient experience (81.7%, n = 125), community building (55.8%, n = 53), and humorous posts (38.5%, n = 10). Conclusions More than 500,000 posts related to urogynecology were identified on Instagram. Most posts were authored by patients and allied health professionals with a small contribution from physicians. Greater physician participation may increase the quantity of educational posts and offer a low-cost platform for networking and connecting with patients and other providers.

Who’s Posting What? A Qualitative, Cross-Sectional Study Comparing Twitter and Instagram Patterns Between Health Care Professionals and Patients

“…Our study aimed to further characterize the intended audience and content themes that emerged from physician-authored Instagram and Twitter posts compared with patients and AHP-authored posts using the official SGS urogynecology hashtags. The primary findings of this study are that physicians posted on Twitter more often than Instagram in contrast to patients who were more likely to post to Instagram and mirrors previously published findings 4 . However, both physician and patient-authored posts shared the most common thematic code, advocacy/awareness, indicating a common desire to raise awareness around the diagnosis and treatment of PFDs.…”

“…These algorithms are noted as an introduction of possible bias into post selection. Our post selection methodology was adapted from an Instagram study performed by Qin et al 4 in 2020 that searched Instagram’s “top 9” in addition to recent posts.…”

“…3 In a 2020 study of more than 500,000 urogynecology Instagram posts, only 13% were authored by physicians. 4 Specifically for PFDs, 31% of posts had recommendations lacking scientific evidence, and the majority of these were authored by patients with personal experience of having the condition rather than education from expert health care professionals. 5 Currently, data are lacking on physicians use of social media, including intended audience and content.…”

“…Previous studies have identified that while patients are actively seeking to receive health information on social media, there is a paucity of evidence-based, physician-authored content available 3 . In a 2020 study of more than 500,000 urogynecology Instagram posts, only 13% were authored by physicians 4 . Specifically for PFDs, 31% of posts had recommendations lacking scientific evidence, and the majority of these were authored by patients with personal experience of having the condition rather than education from expert health care professionals 5 …”

Ophthalmology and Social Media: An In-Depth Investigation of Ophthalmologic Content on Instagram

“…This is in accordance with studies in other fields (dermatology, plastic surgery, and urogynecology) that have shown that the majority of top social media content is created by individuals without formal board-certified training. 10 , 13 , 14 , 25 …”